WT/GC/235  
 
26 October 2021  
(21-8096) Page: 1/7 
General Council  Original: English  
 
G7 TRADE MINISTERS ' COMMUNIQUÉ  
The following communication, dated 25 October 2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United Kingdom . 
 
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1. We, the G7 Trade Ministers, met in London on 22 October to build on the initiatives we agreed 
in our communiq ué of 28 May and advance our discussions on reforming the multilateral trading 
system to address 21st century trade issues and advance free and fair trade. We stand united in 
our commitment to build back better from the pandemic and provide our citizens wi th the 
intended benefits of free, fair, and sustainable trade, including raised living standards, full 
employment, sustainable development, and a protected and preserved environment. We are 
grateful for the insights of the Secretary -General of the Organi zation for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD) who participated in the meeting.  
2. We welcome the presentation by the Chair of the Economic Resilience Panel, Lord Sedwill, and 
note the panel 's suggestions on strengthening the resilience of global suppl y chains. We commit 
to closely monitoring issues impacting global supply chains and to continue working together to 
address these shared challenges.  
12th WTO Ministerial Conference  
3. We discussed our priorities for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12 ) building on our 
Leaders ' commitments reached in Carbis Bay in June. Our shared objective is to deliver a 
successful Ministerial Conference that positions Members to foster a rules -based multilateral 
trading system, with the WTO at its centre, that is mor e resilient, sustainable, inclusive, and 
responsive to the needs of global citizens. We are determined to achieve a multifaceted outcome 
on trade and health as the response by the WTO to the C OVID -19 pandemic, including how the 
international IP framework c an best support the pandemic response. We will work with all WTO 
Members to resolve outstanding issues so that a meaningful agreement on effective disciplines 
on harmful fisheries subsidies can be attained, showing that the WTO can contribute to 
sustainabi lity through its rule -making. We will work to deliver a realistic outcome on agriculture 
and agree to support a strong outcome in the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation. 
We support a permanent prohibition of customs duties on electronic trans missions. We look 
forward to further work on initiatives such as trade and environmental sustainability, and trade 
and gender. MC12 should highlight the WTO 's ability to contribute to resolving 21st century 
challenges, including climate change and the loss  of biodiversity. We commit to a successful and 
productive WTO 12th Ministerial Conference as an important opportunity to advance WTO reform 
to revitalise the organi zation.  
WTO reform  
4. We are committed to advancing work towards WTO reform in a way that is inclusive and action -
orientated, to build a more viable and durable multilateral trading system. A key objective of 
WTO reform will be to strengthen the organization 's three core functions, in an effort to build a 
free and fair rules -based multilateral tra ding system that benefits all its Members and helps 
secure shared prosperity for all. This includes advancing the effectiveness of the WTO 's 
monitoring, negotiating and dispute settlement system functions, which requires resolving long -
standing issues. We also highlight that the correct implementation and monitoring of 
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  system and therefore support and encourage enhanced transparency and dialogue among WTO 
Members  in a balanced and inclusive manner. We remain committed to active engagement in 
this work to provide the political momentum necessary for progress, recalling the points 
highlighted by G7 Leaders ' Carbis Bay communiqué and the Sorrento Declaration of G20 T rade 
and Investment Ministers.  
Free and Fair Trade  
5. Our discussions today strengthened our resolve to tackle unfair trade practices that threaten the 
livelihoods of our citizens, harm our businesses, erode trust in, and undermine the functioning 
of the global trading system. We stand shoulder to shoulder in  our commitment to act against 
these threats and prevent those seeking unfair advantages from benefiting.  
6. Reconfirming our commitments in our May communiqué, we deepened discussions on market -
distorting practices and the need to defend the integrity and s ustainability of the rules -based 
multilateral trading system. We noted the continued opaqueness of these practices and the 
chronically low levels of compliance of some WTO Members with regards to providing complete 
and timely notifications to meet their su bsidy notification obligations. An important step in 
reinforcing the fundamental principles of transparency would be the adoption of the transparency 
and notification proposal in the General Council. We all endorse this proposal and will encourage 
the wide r WTO membership to support it. We welcome the G20 commitments earlier this month 
to continue to work to ensure a level playing field, underscoring the importance of fair 
competition and of tackling distortions in trade and investment. We committed to cont inue our 
work together with likeminded partners to identify other ways to address the lack of 
transparency in government support by some jurisdictions. We reaffirmed the importance of the 
Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) as a forum that can he lp address the issue of 
global steel excess capacity in a multilateral framework. We will continue to support and work 
with the OECD to build on their excellent work undertaken to date, including a continued focus 
on the analysis of the incidence and magni tude of market -distorting practices and the impacts 
these may have on issues such as creating and maintaining overcapacity. We will step up our 
efforts in countering these practices, through appropriate tools and levers, and to develop 
stronger internation al rules on practices such as market -distorting industrial subsidies and trade -
distorting actions by state enterprises.  
7. We share and are guided by the concern expressed by our Leaders in Carbis Bay regarding the 
use of all forms of forced labour in global  supply chains, including state -sponsored forced labour 
of vulnerable groups and minorities, including in the agricultural, solar and garment sectors. We 
affirm that there is no place for forced labour in the rules -based multilateral trading system. We 
endorsed recommendations to identify, prevent and eliminate forced labour in global supply 
chains reflected in the statement annexed to this communiqué.  
8. To further our response to these challenges, we will continue to discuss these important issues 
and commit  to working collaboratively and with the assistance of relevant international 
organi zations to tackle them.  
Moderni zing Trade  
9. We recogni ze the urgent need to update the rules for global trade to ensure they continue to 
have a positive impact on the daily  lives of our citizens. We oppose digital protectionism and 
authoritarianism and today, we have adopted the G7 Digital Trade Principles that will guide the 
G7's approach to digital trade, annexed to this communiqué. We have committed to open digital 
market s; data free flow with trust; safeguards for workers, consumers, and businesses; digital 
trading systems; and fair and inclusive global governance. Efforts should be intensified to tackle 
the digital divide and to build the capacities of developing countri es. Furthermore, we are 
committed to advancing the E -Commerce Joint Statement Initiative towards a high standard and 
commercially meaningful outcome that works for all. We aim to achieve substantial progress by 
the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference.  
10. As we implement the Paris Agreement and transition to net -zero emissions, we recogni ze the 
negative effect that carbon leakage may have on the climate. We commit to work collaboratively, 
including with relevant international organi zations, to address the risk of  carbon leakage, while WT/GC/235  
 
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  enhancing international climate ambition. We also recogni ze the need for dialogue on the 
domestic solutions that are already being considered. We recogni ze the importance of ensuring 
that any approach is, among other things, transpar ent and WTO consistent. We agree on the 
importance of any trade solution to carbon leakage being built on a robust evidence base with 
scientifically sound data. We commit to continuing open, inclusive, and constructive discussions 
on trade and the environm ent, including carbon leakage, through fora such as the Trade and 
Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD), in recognition of trade 's important 
role in tackling climate change.  
11. We reconfirm our commitment to an end to new direct governm ent support for unabated 
international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021, including through export 
finance, investment, and financial and trade promotion support.  
12. We welcome discussions at the G7 Trade and Environment Officials ' Meeting on 30 September 
regarding supporting sustainable supply chains that decouple agricultural production from 
deforestation and forest degradation.  
Closing remarks  
13. We are committed to continuing our collective work in all relevant fora to champion free and fair  
trade and to the modernisation of international trade rules. We look forward to continuing 
discussions under the trade track of the German Presidency in 2022.  
 
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  G7 TRADE MINISTERS ' STATEMENT ON FORCED LABOUR (ANNEX A)  
1. We, the G7 Trade M inisters, share and are guided by the concern expressed by our Leaders in 
Carbis Bay in 2021 regarding the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains, 
including state -sponsored forced labour of vulnerable groups and minorities, including in the 
agricultural, solar and garment sectors. We affirm that there is no place for forced labour in the 
rules-based multilateral trading system.  
2. We acknowledge that on any given day there are about 25 million people subject to forced labour 
worldwide, and c all on all countries, multilateral institutions and businesses to work together, 
including with survivors of forced labour, to eradicate forced labour from global supply chains.  
3. We have taken seriously the task handed down to us by the G7 Leaders to ident ify areas for 
strengthened cooperation and collective efforts towards eradicating the use of all forms of forced 
labour from global supply chains. We recogni ze trade policy can be one of the important tools in 
a comprehensive approach to prevent, identify and eliminate forced labour in global supply 
chains. We further recogni ze that forced labour is a global problem and effective action should 
be based on international labour standards, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human 
Rights (UNGP), and inte rnational standards on responsible business conduct, including collective 
efforts in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations (UN), especially the International 
Labour Organization (ILO), and Organi zation for Economic Co -Operation and Developme nt 
(OECD). We, therefore, appreciate the years of international cooperation that governments, 
workers organi zations, and employers have undertaken in their own countries and multilateral 
institutions to comprehensively prevent forced labour and to provide victims of forced labour 
with protection and access to appropriate and effective remedies.  
4. We recall the 2021 G7 May Trade Communiqué and the 2019 Report on ending child labour, 
forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains by the ILO, OECD, International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN International Children 's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). We 
further recall the commitments made by G7 Leaders in Elmau, 2015, to foster sustainable supply 
chains and by the G7 Social Ministers in Paris, 2019, to promote decent work, responsible 
business conduct and human rights due diligence in global supply chains and by G20 Labour and 
Employment Ministers in Mendoza, in 2018, to eradicate child labour, forced labour, human 
trafficking and modern slavery.  
5. We call on all countries, multilateral institutions and businesses to commit to uphold human 
rights and international labour standards, and respect relevant principles on responsible business 
conduct throughout global supply chains to prevent forced labour, p rotect victims of forced 
labour and provide remedy to victims of forced labour. This includes adherence to international 
labour standards set out in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 
and its Follow Up, utilising the ILO Guide lines Concerning the Measurement of Forced Labour, 
which sets out the Indicators of Forced Labour and implementing the UNGP.  
6. We recogni ze the important role of governments to eradicate forced labour, protect victims of 
forced labour, and improve global su pply chain transparency and the implementation of the 
principles of business and human rights, as recogni zed by the UNGP. Governments can help 
achieve these goals through sharing risk -management tools, encouraging the collection of data 
and evidence, uphol ding international labour standards in their own business operations and 
procurement policies, and including respect for international labour standards in their 
assessments of publicly funded projects. We further recogni ze the need to uphold international 
labour standards in all areas of the economy, including within the digital economy and through 
the use of emerging technologies to improve the traceability of global supply chains, ensuring 
developing countries are not left behind.  
7. We commit to further enhancing clarity and predictability for businesses. We further commit to 
promote guidance on human rights due diligence, including but not limited to responsible 
recruitment practices, in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises  and Due 
Diligence Guidance on Responsible Business Conduct, including at sector levels; the ILO 
Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and ILO 
general principles for fair recruitment; the IOM 's ethical recruitment standards; and the UNGP. 
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  Enterprises in this regard. We commit to promote, within the relevant multilateral institutions 
such as the UN, ILO and OECD , common definitions and guidance to collect and share data and 
evidence on forced labour, and facilitate business compliance with international labour standards 
and international standards on responsible business conduct throughout global supply chains.  
8. We will continue working together including through our own available domestic means and 
multilateral institutions to protect individuals from forced labour, to ensure that global supply 
chains are free from the use of forced labour and those who perpetrate  forced labour are held 
accountable. We recogni ze the importance of continuing technical exchanges on how trade policy 
can contribute to the eradication of forced labour from global supply chains, engaging in dialogue 
with relevant stakeholders, including in developing countries, to further refine our best practices, 
and identifying modalities for sharing data and evidence. We commit to working closely with 
multilateral institutions such as the UN, ILO and OECD to promote effective implementation of 
the fun damental ILO Conventions, in particular the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), including 
its 2014 Protocol, and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105). We will work closely 
with the G7 Employment Task Force and the G7 Foreign and Development M inisters to promote 
human dignity, strengthen the implementation of international labour standards and responsible 
business conduct, and make individuals less vulnerable to forced labour and other labour rights 
violations.  
 
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  G7 TRADE MIN ISTERS ' DIGITAL TRADE PRINCIPLES (ANNEX B)  
Open digital markets  
• We, the G7 Trade Ministers, are united in our support for open digital markets and in our 
opposition to digital protectionism and digital authoritarianism. Digital and telecommunications 
markets should be competitive, transparent, fair, and accessible to international trade and 
investment.  
 
• Digital trade – and international trade more generally – must be at the service of our people. 
It should be used to support jobs, raise living standards,  and respond to the needs of workers, 
innovators, and consumers.  
 
• Digital trade should support entrepreneurialism and empower a full range of businesses to 
participate in the global economy, notably women entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium -
sized e nterprises (MSMEs).  
 
• As the bedrock of a thriving and innovative digital economy, the internet must be open, free, 
and secure.  
 
• Electronic transmissions – including the transmitted content – should be free of customs 
duties, in accordance with the WTO Mo ratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions. We 
support a permanent prohibition of such duties.  
 
Data free flow with trust  
• To harness the opportunities of the digital economy and support the trade of goods and 
services, data should be able to f low freely across borders with trust, including the trust of individuals 
and businesses.  
 
• We are concerned about situations where data localisation requirements are being used for 
protectionist and discriminatory purposes, as well as to undermine open soc ieties and democratic 
values, including freedom of expression.  
 
• We should address unjustified obstacles to cross -border data flows, while continuing to 
address privacy, data protection, the protection of intellectual property rights, and security.  
 
• Personal data must be protected by high enforceable standards, includi ng when it is 
transferred across borders. We recogni ze the importance of enhancing cooperation on data 
governance and data protection and identifying opportunities to overcome differences. We will 
cooperate to explore commonalities in our regulatory approa ches and promote interoperability 
between G7 members.  
 
• Non-personal data should benefit from protection, including all applicable protection as 
intellectual property, such as the protection of trade secrets.  
 
• Achieving consensus on common principles for trusted government access to personal data 
held by the private sector will help to provide transparency and legal certainty. It will support the 
transfer of data between jurisdictions by commercial entities and result in positive economic and 
social impact s. We support the OECD 's work on developing these principles, recognising the 
importance of legitimate access to protect citizens and safeguard national security.  
 
• Open government data can play an important role in digital trade. Where appropriate, public  
sector datasets should be published in anonymised, open, interoperable, and accessible forms.  
 
Safeguards for workers, consumers, and businesses  
• Labour protections must be in place for workers who are directly engaged in or support digital 
trade, provid ing decent conditions of work.  
 
• Effective measures must be in place to ensure a high level of consumer protection when 
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• Businesses must have a secure digital trading environment, with the highest standards of 
cyberse curity and resilience against illicit or malign activity.  
 
• To ensure that consumers and businesses can benefit from digital innovation, governments 
should maintain effective and balanced intellectual property frameworks, with protections for trade 
secrets .  
 
• Businesses should not be required or coerced to transfer technology or provide access to 
source code or encryption keys as a condition of market access. At the same time, governments 
must retain sufficient flexibility to pursue legitimate regulatory go als, including health and safety.  
 
Digital trading systems  
• To cut red tape and enable more businesses to trade, governments and industry should drive 
forward the digitisation of trade -related documents. This includes through means of addressing legal, 
technical, and commercial barriers to the digitisation of paper processes.  
 
• Where governments use digital systems for processing imports, exports, and goods in transit, 
these should facilitate the flow of goods along the entirety of the supply chain.  
 
• Single trade windows should be developed to streamline stakeholder interactions  with border 
agencies. Governments should strive to develop these around common standards, with 
interoperability as a key goal, and in line with the best practice recommendations of the World 
Customs Organization.  
 
Fair and inclusive global governance  
• Common rules for digital trade should be agreed and upheld at the World Trade Organization. 
These rules should benefit workers, consumers, and businesses in developing economies, as well as 
those in developed economies, while safeguarding each country 's righ t to regulate for legitimate 
public policy objectives.  
 
• To drive growth in an inclusive way, efforts should be intensified to tackle the digital divides 
between and within countries, taking account of the specific needs of low -income countries, notably 
the least developed countries.  
 
• The rules governing digital trade should be future -proofed and responsive to innovation and 
emerging technologies, so that workers, consumers, and businesses can harness their full potential. 
To assist this process, governmen ts should review evidence and analysis, including from the OECD, 
where it can help to address rapid developments in digital trade.  
 
• International standards for information and communication technologies should be developed 
in a way that complies with the s ix principles of the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee, 
namely transparency, openness, impartiality and consensus, effectiveness and relevance, 
coherence, and the development dimension. Such standards must continue to play an important role 
in supp orting an open, free, and fair environment in the digital age.  
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